After the storm

By the time Hurricane Irene reached us late Saturday night it had already weakened somewhat and, combined with the fact that we were on the periphery meant that we only got a good soaking rain and a little bit of wind.  Other parts of the region did not fare so well - North Carolina and Virginia, where she first came ashore, were battered quite badly and flooding caused problems right up the East Coast, even affecting places one or two counties away from us.

Mrs Walles and I followed along on the Weather Channel.  On Sunday morning, as the eye approached New York City, the presenters seemed to manifest a kind of macabre hope that Irene would retain her hurricane status all the way to Manhattan, which would make it the first direct hit from a hurricane there in over a hundred years.  In the end she was downgraded to a tropical storm just before she hit New York.  That didn't stop her leaving a path of flooding and blackouts all the way through New England into Canada.

Millions of people were without power (including some of the family of Mrs Walles on Long Island) and many still are.  At least ten people were killed.  And flooding is still creating havoc according to the news.

And so I have weathered my first hurricane, even if it was right at the edge and even if it was "only" category one.  I'm still chalking it up.  And, frankly, I'm not worried about getting closer to the centre or seeking out category fives, thanks very much.  Last week demonstrated that not even here, in Pennsylvania, are we completely immune to the more dramatic forces of nature.  There's no escape and, though I imagine the people of Virginia might disagree, I guess you just have to roll with the punches.